# Reported issues for epa-mcp-server

Pod holds 18 of 22 problems reported by people outside the maintainer team. Issues filed by the project's own owners, members and collaborators are excluded entirely — a maintainer's release checklist is not a warning to a prospective user.

Back to [epa-mcp-server](/mcp/epa-mcp-server).

## Most discussed

### feat(ejscreen): add EJSCREEN environmental justice scores

The server covers facility compliance (ECHO), TRI releases, Superfund sites, drinking water systems, and AirNow AQI — all facility or media-specific endpoints. EPA's [EJSCREEN](https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen) environmental justice screening tool is completely absent. EJSCREEN is now the primary lens for environmental justice analysis in regulatory, legal, and community contexts, and is actively used in EPA permitting decisions and Title VI complaints.

## Proposal

Add an `epa_get_ejscreen` tool w

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/12) · 2026-05-26 · closed · 2 comments

### bug(epa_search_violations): always returns 0 cases — ECHO case_rest_services.get_case_info does not include a Cases array

### Server version

0.1.2

### mcp-ts-core version

^0.9.9

### Runtime

Bun

### Runtime version

1.3.11

### Transport

HTTP (Streamable)

### Description

`epa_search_violations` always returns `{ cases: [], totalCount: 0 }` regardless of inputs. The ECHO `case_rest_services.get_case_info` endpoint does not return a `Cases` array in its response — it returns cluster/summary data only. The service reads `data.Results?.Cases ?? []`, which always falls back to `[]`.

### Steps to reproduce

1. C

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/11) · 2026-05-26 · closed · 2 comments

### bug(epa_get_facility): always fails — ECHO get_facility_info does not accept FRS Registry IDs via p_id

### Server version

0.1.2

### mcp-ts-core version

^0.9.9

### Runtime

Bun

### Runtime version

1.3.11

### Transport

HTTP (Streamable)

### Description

`epa_get_facility` fails for every Registry ID with `ECHO returned no facility for Registry ID "...". Check the ID and try again.` The ECHO `get_facility_info` endpoint's `p_id` parameter accepts program-specific facility IDs (e.g. RCRA handler ID `WAD988470605`), not FRS Registry IDs (e.g. `110005351555`). Step 1 of `getFacility()` fetches

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/10) · 2026-05-26 · closed · 2 comments

### bug(epa_get_air_quality): AirNow cache key fix incomplete — colons in kind argument still crash every call

### Server version

0.1.2

### mcp-ts-core version

^0.9.9

### Runtime

Bun

### Runtime version

1.3.11

### Transport

HTTP (Streamable)

### Description

`epa_get_air_quality` crashes on every call with `-32007 Key contains invalid characters`. The fix in v0.1.1 (commit 592df81) addressed `=` and `&` in the params segment of the cache key but left colons in the `kind` argument untouched. The storage key validator prohibits colons; the resulting keys still contain three colons and are rejecte

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/9) · 2026-05-26 · closed · 2 comments

### ux(epa_get_facility): description leaks implementation detail — mentions 'ECHO DFR endpoints in parallel'

### Server version

0.1.0

### mcp-ts-core version

0.9.9

### Runtime

Node.js

### Runtime version

Node 24.x

### Transport

HTTP (Streamable HTTP)

### OS

macOS 15.x

### Description

The `epa_get_facility` tool description includes the phrase "from multiple ECHO DFR endpoints in parallel" — this is an implementation detail (specific API endpoint names and execution strategy) that shouldn't appear in the tool description. Descriptions should describe *what the tool does*, not *how it's impl

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/8) · 2026-05-26 · closed · 2 comments

### bug(config): AIRNOW_API_KEY missing from server.json environmentVariables and manifest.json

### Server version

0.1.0

### mcp-ts-core version

0.9.9

### Runtime

Node.js

### Runtime version

Node 24.x

### Transport

stdio

### OS

macOS 15.x

### Description

`AIRNOW_API_KEY` is a required env var (declared as `z.string().min(1)` in `server-config.ts`), but it is not listed in `server.json`'s `environmentVariables` array or in `manifest.json`'s `user_config`. Users installing via the MCP registry or Claude Desktop bundle will hit a startup config error with no indication that an AP

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/7) · 2026-05-26 · closed · 2 comments

### bug(epa-superfund-site resource): site ID heuristic is wrong — resource never finds sites by ID

### Server version

0.1.0

### mcp-ts-core version

0.9.9

### Runtime

Node.js

### Runtime version

Node 24.x

### Transport

HTTP (Streamable HTTP)

### OS

macOS 15.x

### Description

The `epa://superfund/{site_id}` resource always returns not-found for valid site IDs. The resource uses a heuristic: take the first 2 characters of the site_id as a state code to scope the search. But SEMS site IDs are numeric (e.g. `0200048`) — `"02"` is not a valid state abbreviation, so the state-scoped sea

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/6) · 2026-05-26 · closed · 2 comments

### bug(epa_search_water_systems): has_violation filter crashes — violation_flag column does not exist in SDWIS; city always missing

### Server version

0.1.0

### mcp-ts-core version

0.9.9

### Runtime

Node.js

### Runtime version

Node 24.x

### Transport

HTTP (Streamable HTTP)

### OS

macOS 15.x

### Description

Two bugs in `epa_search_water_systems`:

**1. `has_violation: true` crashes with HTTP 500.** The `sdwis.water_system` table has no `violation_flag` column. Filtering on it causes the DMAP API to return `{"error": "The column, sdwis.water_system.violation_flag does not exist"}`, which surfaces as a 500 error to

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/5) · 2026-05-26 · closed · 2 comments

## Most recent

### feat(config): default MCP_SESSION_MODE to stateless across env, Docker, and src

`Dockerfile` sets `ENV MCP_SESSION_MODE="stateless"`, but `.env.example` carries a commented `# MCP_SESSION_MODE=stateful`, whose comment documents the value set as `stateful | stateless (default: stateful)`. The container and the same code run via `bunx`, `npm start`, or from source therefore resolve to different session modes — stateless in Docker, stateful everywhere else, since the framework schema defaults to `auto` and `auto` resolves to `stateful`.

Related: cyanheads/mcp-ts-core#376

## 

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/22) · 2026-08-22 · open · 0 comments

### bug(epa_get_tri_releases): facility_id handoff points at epa_search_facilities, which returns FRS registry IDs

`epa_get_tri_releases` requires a `facility_id` that its own description sources from the wrong tool:

> Obtain facility_id (TRI facility ID) from `epa_search_facilities`.

`epa_search_facilities` is the ECHO compliance tool. Its facility records are keyed by `registryId` — the FRS registry identifier — and it carries TRI data only as an aggregate quantity field (`triReleasesTransfersInLbs`), not as a TRI facility identifier.

The tool that does surface the right identifier is `epa_search_tri_re

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/21) · 2026-08-11 · open · 1 comment

### refactor(naming): adopt program-grouped tool naming — epa_<group>_<verb>_<object>

The tool surface grew a tool at a time and the names show it: some objects carry their EPA program (`epa_search_tri_releases`, `epa_search_superfund`, `epa_get_ejscreen`) while others are unlabeled plain words — `epa_search_facilities` and `epa_search_violations` don't say they're ECHO compliance data, and `epa_search_water_systems` doesn't say SDWIS drinking water. With #18 adding a CAMPD family, the surface would mix grouped and ungrouped tools with no rule.

Related: #18

## Proposal

Adopt o

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/20) · 2026-08-10 · open · 1 comment

### feat(canvas): extend DataCanvas staging to the existing search tools

The high-volume search tools cap results inline today: a statewide `epa_search_tri_releases` (facility × chemical × year rows), a broad `epa_search_facilities`, `epa_search_violations`, or `epa_search_water_systems` query can match far more than fits a bounded response, and the only recourse is narrowing filters. Once #18 lands the canvas foundation (`epa_dataframe_query` / `epa_dataframe_describe`), those matches can stage as SQL-queryable tables instead of being cut off.

Depends on: #18

## P

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/19) · 2026-08-10 · open · 0 comments

### feat(campd): add Clean Air Markets measured power-plant emissions surface

`epa-mcp-server` currently answers "what does this facility emit" through TRI — annual, self-reported, toxics-focused. For fossil power plants a far stronger record exists in EPA's [Clean Air Markets Program Data](https://campd.epa.gov/) (CAMPD): continuous emissions monitoring at unit-hour resolution — CO2, SO2, NOx, heat input, gross load — back to 1995, measured directly at the stack. An agent asked about a power plant's emissions today gets the TRI answer with no signal that the measured rec

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/18) · 2026-08-10 · open · 1 comment

### feat(epa_search_tri_releases): add per-medium release breakdown

`epa_search_tri_releases` returns per-facility TRI summaries but no per-medium breakdown, while the README (`README.md:35`) documents it as returning "total releases by medium." #15 added the per-medium breakdown (air/water/land/underground injection) to `epa_get_tri_releases` in 0.2.1 and deliberately scoped the search tool out as a follow-on — this is that follow-on, and it also resolves the README overclaim.

Related: #15

### Use case

A caller using `epa_search_tri_releases` to scan a state

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/17) · 2026-07-10 · open · 0 comments

### bug(epa_search_facilities): proximity search sends p_radius_mi but ECHO requires p_radius

### Server version

0.2.0

### mcp-ts-core version

0.10.6

### Runtime

Bun (runtime-independent — this is a URL construction bug)

### Transport

stdio

### Description

`epa_search_facilities` proximity search (`latitude` / `longitude` / `radius_miles`) is broken. The ECHO [`get_facility_info`](https://echodata.epa.gov/echo/) request is built with the query param `p_radius_mi`, but ECHO requires `p_radius`. ECHO ignores the unrecognized `p_radius_mi`, sees `p_lat`/`p_long` supplied without a 

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/16) · 2026-07-10 · closed · 1 comment

### feat(epa_get_tri_releases): add per-medium (air/water/land) release breakdown

`epa_get_tri_releases` returns only a single `totalReleasesInLbs` field (mapped from `one_time_release_qty` in the `tri.tri_reporting_form` DMAP table). The air/water/land release breakdown that TRI data supports is not surfaced. As documented in `src/services/dmap/types.ts`, the breakdown fields are not available in `tri_reporting_form` — they live in a separate table (`tri_transfer_qty` / `tri_release_qty` family, or the [Envirofacts TRI release tables](https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-overview)

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/15) · 2026-06-03 · closed · 1 comment

### feat(epa_search_facilities): add proximity search (lat/lng + radius)

`epa_search_facilities` accepts only `zip_code`, `state`, and `city` as geographic filters. There is no way to search by coordinates plus a radius, so queries like "facilities within 10 miles of these coordinates" cannot be answered. The [ECHO REST API](https://echo.epa.gov/tools/web-services/facility-search-all-programs) supports `p_lat`, `p_long`, and `p_radius_mi` parameters that handle this natively.

## Proposal

Add `latitude`, `longitude`, and `radius_miles` inputs to `epa_search_faciliti

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/14) · 2026-06-03 · closed · 1 comment

### feat(config): make AIRNOW_API_KEY optional — disable epa_get_air_quality when absent

The server requires `AIRNOW_API_KEY` at startup — `z.string().min(1)` in `src/config/server-config.ts` with no `.optional()`. Without a key the entire server fails to start, blocking deployment for users who only need the 7 ECHO/DMAP tools. The [AirNow API registration](https://docs.airnowapi.org/account/request/) requires a phone number, and the key only powers 1 of 8 tools (`epa_get_air_quality`). The other 7 tools (ECHO facilities, violations, TRI releases, Superfund, water systems) use publi

[Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues/13) · 2026-05-27 · closed · 1 comment

The remaining reports are on [the project's issue tracker](https://github.com/cyanheads/epa-mcp-server/issues).